Variably positioned bulkheads are used in a variety of applications where a movable wall or restraining partition is needed. For instance, such bulkheads are often used in the trucking industry, where tractor-trailers are provided with trailer compartments for the transportation of large quantities of goods. Such goods are often irregularly packaged, and a given trailer may at any given time, haul a variety of items. More importantly, these items are often of differing weights independent of their size.
It is considered an important skill in the trucking art to load a trailer compartment so as to evenly distribute the weight of the load to be hauled. As is known, such trailer compartments generally have a lateral dimension which is much greater than its width. If one side of the compartment is overloaded, the tractor-trailer may prove to be unstable, which is a dangerous condition. This problem is most acute when transported goods are of differing sizes and when a trailer compartment is less than completely full. Loose articles would likely be tossed around the trailer compartment during transit, which could dangerously shift the weight distribution, and which could also damage the goods themselves. A loader must be careful to distribute the weight evenly and securely.
To this end, variably positioned bulkheads are often employed. The loader will place a number of articles, often of similar size, so that the weight of the articles are evenly distributed from one side of the trailer compartment to the other, along the trailer's width. A bulkhead is then positioned close to and even in contact with these articles, and secured in position. The bulkhead prevents the articles from shifting during transit. A plurality of bulkheads may be employed with a given trailer compartment, depending upon the goods to be hauled.
A truck driver is often provided with a tractor-trailer which is completely loaded with goods to be delivered. He then drives a predetermined route, unloading the goods along the way, often making several stops. The driver must repeatedly remove and reposition the bulkheads as many times. Therefore, the portable bulkhead must be capable of being manipulated and positioned by the truck driver with minimal or no help.
Variably positioned bulkheads used in the trucking industry will usually span the width of the trailer compartment, and are secured on the sidewalls of the compartment. They must be secured strongly enough to prevent shifting of heavy objects, and yet be portable and easy to use and secure because of the considerations described above.
It is known in the art to provide such bulkheads with an adjustable load bar. The load bar spans the width of the trailer and is adjustable toward the sidewalls of the trailer, so as to create a secure pressure fit. The load bar may be affixed to an actual bulkhead wall, it may have loops extending therefrom, or it may be employed simply as a bar, all of which will serve to prevent cargo shift.
The mechanisms to adjust the pressure fit of the load bars known in the art include one having an automobile style jack. By repeatedly actuating a handle, a rocker clutch is caused to move along a series of steps. This in turn causes one side of the load bar to move toward the trailer compartment sidewall, until a pressure fit is achieved.
The automobile jack style of load bar adjustor has proven to have many drawbacks. These drawbacks include those common to the automobile jack art itself. These jack devices are difficult and time consuming to operate, and they are known to be prone to slipping. A load bar equipped with such an adjusting device must be held with one side of the bar against one side of the trailer compartment sidewall, while the jack is repeatedly manipulated so as to cause the other end of the bar to engage the sidewall. This is a difficult maneuver at best, and virtually impossible for one person to accomplish alone.
Therefore, a need exists for a load bar for use as or with a variably positioned bulkhead, which has a positive adjusting and locking mechanism and which can be easily and quickly manipulated by the operator thereof.